These are frugal times, and these are times when environmental consciousness is rising. How can you prepare your kids to live as adults when times are more frugal and much more ecologically conscious? This generation of parents has lost a lot of the skills that our grandparents had. I know I have, and I’m trying to regain them. Here are six ways that you can help your children become frugal adults. By modeling these skills and allowing your kids to help, you’ll give them great know-how for the future.
Preparing Food
Prepared food is something that is easy for kids to take for granted. Doesn’t food just appear on the plates? Sadly, no. Happily, making food is really fun. My seven-year-old can make a simple meal, and she’s making her own lunches now, with a bit of nutritional oversight from me. Once your kids get the hang of making meals, you can move on to other skills like food preservation.
Fixing Things and Making Things
My daughter’s greatest fixing things wish is to learn how to fix her bike. Great idea! Learning how to sew and crochet, learning how to work with wood, learning how to be an inventive fixer-upper: these are all essential skills for kids, and they’re some of the skills that have gone missing over the last thirty years.
Spending Time Rather Than Money
In frugal times, buying the latest gadget is not in the budget. Family walks, family dance parties, outdoor play: these are all free, and they’re a great use of your recreational time. They also teach kids to make their own fun.
Innovative Reuse
Do you know all of those Facebook memes about the fact that your best toy was a box? Seriously, giving your kids a box is a great idea. Even if you’re not so good at making and building things, you can probably think of a way to reuse that thing that you were going to throw out or recycle. Old envelopes are our scrap paper. An old box was my daughter’s main Christmas gift when she was two. She was really into boats, so I cut it into the shape of a boat, made some portals and a door, and painted it. Cost: zero, since the paint was hanging around the house. Fun: at least one year before it was recycled because the box was well-loved and falling apart.
Get Moving
Walking, biking, and taking the bus are all good for the environment and good for your kids. Even taking the bus encourages you to walk more. Very few of us have a bus stop right in front of our house. Think about places you can walk or bike, and try to make those trips with human power. Kids often think that they can’t go that far, but they can. Tell them it’s training and lead them along with promises of blackberries down the next road, and soon they will be walking or biking like champions.
How do you raise your kids in a frugal way?
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